Fan Fare

Abdul’s “Idol” departure leaves no one to hand out the crayons

Only “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul could break out a box of crayons, hand them to fellow panelist Simon Cowell and say, “Here you are 6-year-old. Oh, that’s an insult to 6-year-olds.” Cowell reacted by drawing on her.

Chalk up that episode from this past season to the long list of oddball moments that Abdul brought to “Idol.” With her announced departure from the program, Abdul will leave the show without its resident eccentric, a personality who has often gotten fans talking with her funny behavior.

There was the time last year that she critiqued contestant Jason Castro for two songs, when he had only sung one. She also once said, “Constructive criticism is about finding something good and positive to soften the blow to the real critique of what really went on.”

Uh, what?

She also handed out to contestants her custom-designed jewelry, and no one wore the baubles prouder than this year’s contestant Tatiana del Toro. The following are a couple more of Abdul’s “best of” moments on “Idol.”